Race + Fandom: When Defaulting To White Isn’t An Option

[bitchygrrl]

A nice little piece about race and fandom, I know exactly the frustrations the author is discussing, people don't even realize they default to white. The Hunger Games continues to be an example of this.
Read the article hereRace + Fandom: When Defaulting To White Isn’t An Option

Comments

[bitchygrrl]

I was shocked too, because I pictured Cinna, Rue, and Thresh as people of color. To me they look like their book descriptions

[bitchygrrl]

I agree absolutely with you about British TV. The characters just are. It's one of the reasons I love Luther. In general I don't like race as an unneeded plot point. Race is an issue when it is made an issue, you know?

I have been hearing great things about Hit&Miss and now I have to watch it.

I think race issues play out differently in Europe for sure by virtue of the history. Racial issues here are also so tough just because where people are in terms of race varies hugely by region.

I am seeing Prometheus this week I hope if I can get out from under my workload.

[_charon]

To be honest, I always find it a bit odd, when someone doesn't look at all like the character they are cosplaying ... but this isn't necessarily about colour, since I find a fat princess Leia in a golden bikini odd too. But to be fair - I'm not into cosplaying at all and probably don't understand the appeal of it anyway and I find it so much more creative when people do their own interpretations of costumes (like in the Doctor Who fandom there are girls who are doing female versions of the Doctors ...) and then of course it doesn't matter when someone looks nothing like a certain character ...

[bitchygrrl]

Well the problem is that if I want to cosplay say Dr. Who I have to pick a character that doesn't look like me because I'm black. So if you are a fan of color you are always doing your own interpretation to some degree.

The other issue is that when casting movies at least in the US some people get very up in arms if a character is not white. Take the Hunger Games, there is a character repeatedly described as having brown/tan skin to me this would be a black person. They cast a black actor and people where flipping out because they thought it should be a white actor with a tan. The problem is that everything defaults to white. The French just banned an American film with a largely black cast because it was not diverse enough yet, they accept films from the states with all white casts. There is a perception of white skin being normal and anything else being wrong. In this country it is particularly irritating since we are diverse yet there is this constant desire to portray all from the USA as white.

[_charon]

I guess the thing I can't quite understand is the type of cosplaying where someone dresses like a copy of some character. In Doctor Who fandom, I would rather see a female black Doctor than a copy of Martha or a Cyberwoman. I understand the frustration, when you ARE interested in that kind of cosplaying ... I probably just don't get why someone would want to look like a copy in the first place, rather than going for a more individual look, you know?

But that aside, I do think it's important to ask these questions and I do think what happens or doesn't happen in films and on tv does have an effect on people's lives. And I don't mean limited choice of characters for cosplaying but actual job opportunities and stuff like that. Like, when you only see white lawyers in tv shows, the image you might create of a good and competent lawyer in your mind is most likely white too ...

[bitchygrrl]

I'll send you a pic next time I cosplay someone fun. LOL

Yes that's exactly it in terms of limiting people's thought process and vision of how they see themselves and others.

[darthmedusa77]

Ugh...that Hunger Games situation is ridiculous...people's assumptions are stronger than their reading-comprehension skills. Those characters were clearly not white from the descriptions...so I was appalled that people seemed upset by the casting choices. Off topic, sort of, but have you read the book "The New Jim Crow"?

[bitchygrrl]

I have it but haven't started reading yet. Have you? I'd love to have someone to discuss with when I actually get to it.

[darthmedusa77]

Yes, I read it a few months ago. A lot of it was stuff I already knew from working in education, but it was still shocking in parts. I wish more people would read it.